April 20, 2012

Reflection on the Spirit of the Sacred Heart April 20, 2012

God of surprises,  we come together to praise You and to open ourselves wide to your touch. Surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, women and men of history, named and unnamed, known and unknown, we drink deep of the wisdom and fidelity of the past, the faith of our foremothers and forefathers who showed us how to live what we believe. When driven to doubt, when close to despair, may we still believe in miracles and witness courageously to what might be, in Jesus the Christ. Amen.  Opening Prayer from, Pentecost: You Shall Be My Witness, by Maureen Currie, rscj Canada      (http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/seasons-of-prayer-publicmenu-37/119-intros/457-junio-june-juin-2004.html?showall=1)

For Reflection...   To be a witness means coming to terms with 'stones' and with 'believing'. On Easter morning the women encountered a series of strange occurrences:    The stone had been rolled from the door of the tomb, but no one would believe them. The stone was a seal, and the seal was broken, and nobody would believe them. The hearts of the leadership had turned to stone. No wonder they couldn't believe them. The hearts of the women were heavy as stone, because nobody would believe them.    'Stones' are the tests of believers. Do we believe the living God can roll aside any stone so that we might experience Resurrection?   (http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/seasons-of-prayer-publicmenu-37/119-intros/457-junio-june-juin-2004.html?showall=1)                      Photograph by Margaret Phelan rscj      http://www.rscjinternational.org/en/spirituality/creative-space-publicmenu-35/2377-united-states--photography-by-margaret-phelan-rscj.html